Drowning
by Pandora-Pandemonium
Summary: They hoped and wished and believed and trusted and lived and cried and screamed and snarled and fought and tried, tried, oh, they tried so very hard, but they drowned in anger anyway while remembering their regrets.


_Drowning_

_A collection of insights by Tsubasa Namikaze_

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><p>Naruto is angry because nobody accepted him for the very thing that should have left him a hero. Why couldn't he simply have had a moment where no one looked down on him? Why did he have to be an idiot to earn an expression other than hate? The world is cruel, he knows this, he Knows this and understands this, but Naruto Uzumaki is only Human. He is not a Demon. He has a soul and would gladly give it up for a chance at a road not taken; where he could have been himself and not worry about what other people thought. Just once he would take pleasure is having somebody else take on the same responsibility he has. Just one day of having the Nine Tails not whispering in his ear vile threats and seductive promises of power and glory. Just one moment to run or scream or fight back without being mistakenly killed. But Naruto resists it because he knows it is the Right Thing to Do. But it is Tempting, oh so very Tempting to destroy instead.<p>

Naruto wishes that he could suffer a fate less painful than life.

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><p>Sasuke is angry because he cannot tell up from down, left from right or right from wrong anymore. The lines between good and evil have blurred so much he is left grasping desperately in the darkness like a child trapped in a never ending nightmare. What went wrong? When did he become a Pawn in the sick, twisted players of Life? His mind, his body, his heart, his very soul are conflicted. There is no place left to call a proper Home, not since his clan was murdered, not since his bonds were broken, not since his brother died. There is no one left to pick up the pieces. The only reason Sasuke Uchiha moves forward is because a part of him he isn't aware even exists anymore still holds hope in the Light and the end of the Tunnel. But his path is skewed and his eyes - his blessed and accursed eyes, his Sharingan eyes – are as blind as they are clear and he is afraid of finding another road to travel. So he walks forward, not because he has Purpose, but because he has no place to return to.<p>

Sasuke wishes that he could go home and love his family again.

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><p>Sakura is angry because she will never be able to fulfill her promises. Sasuke will never come back, because he is lost and doesn't remember a way back. She cannot help Naruto because her formerly idiotic and pathetic teammate has long since surpassed her; since their first real mission. Her fist is powerful but her will is weak, needing the approval of the people around her before attempting to make something out of itself. Indecisiveness follows her like a contagious disease while it hinders her and plagues her dreams with failure. She knows that she isn't really Anybody. She has no famous shinobi clan to support her. Her family detests her career choice and refuses all but the barest interaction with her. People know the name of Kakashi Hatake, the Copy-nin. People fear the name of Sasuke Uchiha, the Last Uchiha. People praise the name of Naruto Uzumaki, the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox. Nobody knows the name of Sakura Haruno.<p>

Sakura wishes that she could earn a name and be a Somebody.

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><p>Kakashi is angry because, for all his power and knowledge, he always manages to let somebody down. First it was Obito who was crushed underneath Kakashi's carelessness. In the aftermath he gained a Sharingan and swore that he would change. Then it was Rin who died in his arms because of his overconfidence. She gave him the treasured headband that now covers his left eye – he supposed that this was as close as Rin and Obito would ever get in the mortal realm – and he swore that he would be wiser. Next fell his sensei, the Fourth Hokage, who sacrificed his life for the good of all his village and its people, sealing the great demon into his own son, and Kakashi swore that he would protect and teach his well. But he failed that too. Naruto lived alone and suffered, then became great without his help. His other students fared no better. After learning what would later become his signature jutsu, Sasuke became rogue while Sakura became another's apprentice.<p>

Kakashi wishes that he could protect those who are precious to him.


End file.
